Childhood peer relationships in context

Gifford-Smith and Brownell (2003) have provided an extensive critical review of the current state of the art in peer relations research. Their thorough review of the basic research in these areas clearly illustrates the complexity of the task of understanding these aspects of children’s social development and how they navigate the interrelated relational ecologies. Our purpose is to extend the discussion by suggesting implications for intervention work and related research

Conjoint Behavioral Consultation: Involving Parents and Teachers in the Treatment of a Child with Selective Mutism

This paper provides a case example of the effects of a behavioral intervention implemented i.n the context. of Conjoint Behavioral Consultation (CBC; Sheridan, Kratochwill & Bergan, 1996) for a five-year-old child with selective mutism. Programming common stimuli was combined with positive reinforcement and ·then implemented by a parent and teacher to improve a child\u27s verbal interactions. Overall, the number of words spoken by the child client per day increased from 0 during baseline to a treatment mean of 7.7 words per day. An effect size of 1.60 was yielded, with 100% non-overlapping data between baseline and treatment phases. Additionally, treatment acceptability ratings from the parent and teacher of the child indicated that the consultation procedure was feasible and effective within the general education setting

T-helper cell polarisation following severe polytrauma

Introduction Severe polytrauma induces an immunosuppressive response and is associated with a very high incidence of nosocomial infections. Previous studies have inferred that this detrimental immune response results from polarisation of the T helper (Th) response towards an anti-inflammatory, TH2 dominated, response at the expense of a bactericidal, Th1 response [1]. Objectives 1) To define alterations in TH cell subsets following severe blunt polytrauma. Methods Patients presenting to the emergency department within 2 hours of severe polytrauma were eligible if intubated either at the scene or in ED. Isolated head injuries and those not expected to survive 24 hours were excluded. EDTA anti-coagulated blood was drawn at 0hr (within 2 hours of injury), at 24 and 72hrs. Samples were immediately lysed, washed, stained and analysed using a standardised human 8-colour TH 1, 2 & 17 panel [2] on an LSR II flow cytometer. A paired white cell count differential was obtained at each sampling point. Patients were followed until discharge or death. Data were analysed using non-parametric statistics, with results presented as median and IQR. Results 15 consecutive severe polytrauma patients requiring Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission were recruited. Demographic and clinical data are outlined in Figure 1. Twelve (80%) lymphocytosis (3.3x109/L, 2.5 - 4.4x109/L) (Figyre 2A). At 72 hours leukocytes had fallen (P < 0.01, figure 2A) such that 6 (54%) of those surviving were lymphopenic (0.9x109/L, 0.6 - 1.2x109/L). Circulating CD4+ (P = 0.01; Figure 2B) and CD4+CD25+ (P < 0.05) lymphocytes increased over 72 hours. When expressed as a percentage of total circulating lymphocytes no significant change in the proportions of the TH 1, 2 & 17 subpopulations was detected (Figure 2C-E). Conclusions Severe polytrauma patients swiftly become lymphopenic. Although a failure to normalise this during the ICU stay correlates with higher mortality [3] our study of TH cell subtypes demonstrates no evidence of a switch to a detrimental anti-inflammatory TH2 subtype at the expense of the potentially protective bactericidal TH1 subtype

Giant dispersion of critical currents in superconductor with fractal clusters of a normal phase

The influence of fractal clusters of a normal phase on the dynamics of a magnetic flux trapped in a percolative superconductor is considered. The critical current distribution and the current-voltage characteristics of fractal superconducting structures in the resistive state are obtained for an arbitrary fractal dimension of the cluster boundaries. The range of fractal dimensions, where the dispersion of critical currents becomes infinite, is found. It is revealed that the fractality of clusters depresses of the electric field caused by the magnetic flux motion thus increasing the critical current value. It is expected that the maximum current-carrying capability of a superconductor can be achieved in the region of giant dispersion of critical currents.Comment: 7 pages with 3 figure

Efficacy of conjoint behavioral consultation in developmental-behavioral pediatric services.

• Purpose: To evaluate the effects of the CBC model in addressing presenting concerns for children across home, school, and health care systems. • What are the general effects of CBC in addressing identified concerns in a medically-referred sample? • How do parents and teachers perceive CBC in terms of its perceived effectiveness and acceptability? • How satisfied are parents and teachers with CBC consultants and services when provided across homeschool- medical settings

T-helper cell polarisation following severe polytrauma

Introduction Severe polytrauma induces an immunosuppressive response and is associated with a very high incidence of nosocomial infections. Previous studies have inferred that this detrimental immune response results from polarisation of the T helper (Th) response towards an anti-inflammatory, TH2 dominated, response at the expense of a bactericidal, Th1 response [1]. Objectives 1) To define alterations in TH cell subsets following severe blunt polytrauma. Methods Patients presenting to the emergency department within 2 hours of severe polytrauma were eligible if intubated either at the scene or in ED. Isolated head injuries and those not expected to survive 24 hours were excluded. EDTA anti-coagulated blood was drawn at 0hr (within 2 hours of injury), at 24 and 72hrs. Samples were immediately lysed, washed, stained and analysed using a standardised human 8-colour TH 1, 2 & 17 panel [2] on an LSR II flow cytometer. A paired white cell count differential was obtained at each sampling point. Patients were followed until discharge or death. Data were analysed using non-parametric statistics, with results presented as median and IQR. Results 15 consecutive severe polytrauma patients requiring Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission were recruited. Demographic and clinical data are outlined in Figure 1. Twelve (80%) lymphocytosis (3.3x109/L, 2.5 - 4.4x109/L) (Figyre 2A). At 72 hours leukocytes had fallen (P < 0.01, figure 2A) such that 6 (54%) of those surviving were lymphopenic (0.9x109/L, 0.6 - 1.2x109/L). Circulating CD4+ (P = 0.01; Figure 2B) and CD4+CD25+ (P < 0.05) lymphocytes increased over 72 hours. When expressed as a percentage of total circulating lymphocytes no significant change in the proportions of the TH 1, 2 & 17 subpopulations was detected (Figure 2C-E). Conclusions Severe polytrauma patients swiftly become lymphopenic. Although a failure to normalise this during the ICU stay correlates with higher mortality [3] our study of TH cell subtypes demonstrates no evidence of a switch to a detrimental anti-inflammatory TH2 subtype at the expense of the potentially protective bactericidal TH1 subtype

A growth factor phenotype map for ovine preimplantation development.

The reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to determine the patterns of expression for several growth factor ligand and receptor genes during ovine preimplantation development. Transcripts for insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I, IGF-II, and the receptors for insulin and IGF-I were detected throughout ovine preimplantation development from the 1-cell to the blastocyst stage. Transforming growth factor alpha (TGF alpha) transcripts were also detected throughout ovine preimplantation development. The mRNAs encoding basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) were detected in all stages of the ovine preimplantation embryo, although the relative abundance of this transcript consistently decreased from the 1-cell to the blastocyst stage, suggesting that it may represent a maternal transcript in early sheep embryos. Transcripts encoding ovine trophoblast protein (oTP) were detected only within blastocyst-stage embryos. Primary ovine oviduct cell cultures express the transcripts for IGF-II, IGF-I, TGF alpha, bFGF, TGF beta 1, and the receptors for insulin and IGF-I, suggesting that paracrine growth factor circuits may exist between the oviduct epithelium and the early ovine embryo. Transcripts for insulin, epidermal growth factor (EGF), and nerve growth factor (NGF) were not detected in any stage of the ovine preimplantation embryo or within the oviduct cell preparations. The expression of growth factor transcripts very early in mammalian development would predict that these molecules fulfil a necessary role(s) in supporting the progression of early embryos through the preimplantation interval. Our future efforts will be directed to understanding the nature of these putative regulatory pathways

Differential co-assembly of α1-GABAARs associated with epileptic encephalopathy

GABAA receptors (GABAARs) are profoundly important for controlling neuronal excitability. Spontaneous and familial mutations to these receptors feature prominently in excitability disorders and neurodevelopmental deficits following disruption to GABA-mediated inhibition. Recent genotyping of an individual with severe epilepsy and Williams-Beuren Syndrome identified a frameshifting de novo variant in a major GABAAR gene, GABRA1. This truncated the α1 subunit between the third and fourth transmembrane domains and introduced 24 new residues forming the mature protein, α1Lys374Serfs*25 Cell surface expression of mutant murine GABAARs is severely impaired compared to wild-type, due to retention in the endoplasmic reticulum. Mutant receptors were differentially co-expressed with β3, but not with β2 subunits in mammalian cells. Reduced surface expression was reflected by smaller inhibitory postsynaptic currents, which may underlie the induction of seizures. The mutant does not have a dominant negative effect on native neuronal GABAAR expression since GABA current density was unaffected in hippocampal neurons, even though mutant receptors exhibited limited GABA sensitivity. To date, the underlying mechanism is unique for epileptogenic variants and involves differential β subunit expression of GABAAR populations, which profoundly affected receptor function and synaptic inhibition.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTGABAARs are critical for controlling neural network excitability. They are ubiquitously distributed throughout the brain and their dysfunction underlies many neurological disorders, especially epilepsy. Here we report the characterisation of an α1-GABAAR variant that results in severe epilepsy. The underlying mechanism is structurally unusual, with the loss of part of the α1 subunit transmembrane domain and part-replacement with nonsense residues. This led to compromised and differential α1-subunit cell surface expression with β subunits resulting in severely reduced synaptic inhibition. Our study reveals that disease-inducing variants can affect GABAAR structure, and consequently subunit assembly and cell surface expression, critically impacting on the efficacy of synaptic inhibition, a property that will orchestrate the extent and duration of neuronal excitability